The victory was the 21st of the 39-year-old Finn's career and the first since the Australian Grand Prix of March 2013, a gap of 113 races dating back to when he was racing for Lotus.

But instead of starting Sunday's race from second with a real chance to make it a fight, Vettel will start from fifth because of a three-spot grid penalty issued Friday when race officials said the German drove too fast while under a red flag in a practice session.

Ferrari'sSebastian Vettel, Hamilton's only title rival, finished fourth after recovering from an early spin on the opening lap.

Despite posting the sixth fastest time of the day, Hartley will start in dead last on the grid, while Mercedes'Lewis Hamilton will lead the pack as he looks to seal the driver's championship.

The German made contact with Ricciardo's Red Bull vehicle at turn 13 as the pair were battling for fourth place, before spinning out and dropping into 15th.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari qualified at second position with a time of 1:32.298 minutes while his team mate Kimi Raikkonen took the third position with a time of 1:32.307 minutes. We are close and I felt good with the auto.

Mexico next weekend. Not a year ago a circuit where Mercedes excelled, Hamilton needs to score five more points than Vettel to be champion.

Raikkonen: "It has been a great weekend". He was on a slightly better tire than us at the end, so naturally a bit of a struggle.

Hamilton, who raced Verstappen hard in the final laps but was unable to seize second place, said Mercedes had done the best it could with the tire wear it had experienced.

Hamilton is now 70 points ahead of Vettel, who passed Valtteri Bottas to finish fourth in the closing stages, with 75 remaining.

Hamilton, meanwhile, bore down on Raikkonen, applying maximum pressure to relieve the Ferrari driver of the lead. By Lap 35 the damage looked severe, and what was once an nearly 18-second advantage was whittled down to just eight seconds.

Hamilton will clinch his fifth drivers' title if he can outscore Vettel by eight points.

"There's been some races when I haven't been able to do better so I'm happy I could today". Getting around that group and still keeping Hamilton close will be hard.

Asked if Mercedes was too conservative with strategy in Austin in the hope that he would get the result he needed for the title on Sunday, Hamilton said: "There was that feeling with the performance and the decisions that were taken today, as opposed to previous races, but I didn't think we needed to make many changes [to our approach]".

Share this:

Hot News

LeBron says Lakers chemistry is not like 'instant oatmeal'Oct 20, 2018 - 05:40
While the 2018 Lakers are still full of questions, there's little doubt that James is still the best player in basketball . Less than 20 seconds later, James came through the lane to throw down another rim-rattling dunk.

Steelers still haven’t heard from Le’Veon BellOct 20, 2018 - 05:10
Bell was scheduled to make roughly $14.5 million this year after being franchise-tagged by the Steelers this offseason. In the grand scheme of things, the Pittsburgh Steelers probably didn't want to have their bye week this week.

Woman dumps toddler at stranger's door - then runs awayOct 20, 2018 - 01:03
Authorities say deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office responded to a home in Spring, Texas Wednesday evening. It is not clear if the woman has been taken into custody or if police are still trying to find her.

Manchester United players 'mock club legends with videos'Oct 19, 2018 - 16:14
Manchester United players are reportedly passing around clips of club legends making mistakes as they react to recent criticism. Speaking about United's squad, Scholes said that he reckons United do not lack talent, but miss a couple of key players.

Chinese city plans 'artificial moon' to light up skiesOct 19, 2018 - 16:13
A Chinese city has hatched a plan to launch an artificial moon into space within the next two years, according to a new report . The angles of these wings can then be adjusted to allow the light to focus on a precise location.

Mobile confirms iPhone XR pricing ahead of pre-ordersOct 19, 2018 - 15:58
The iPhone XR should also be available on some e-commerce platforms as well, but details on that are still unknown at the moment. We know the prices for iPhone XS (Rs 99,900 onwards) and XS Max (Rs 1,09,900 onwards) - these are for the 64GB variants.

United Kingdom prime minister congratulates Harry and MeghanOct 18, 2018 - 05:11
The news came just hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Sydney for their first major worldwide tour. Meghan, 37, made her name in acting as savvy para-legal Rachel Zane in the U.S. television legal drama "Suits".

Palm Now Makes a Tiny Companion PhoneOct 18, 2018 - 04:56
It doesn't come with a fingerprint scanner, but it does come with Face Unlock that lets you unlock the phone using your face. The 12-megapixel rear camera probably won't be producing photos that impress, but may get the job done anyways.

Trump tells AP he’s not to blame if Republicans lose HouseOct 18, 2018 - 04:46
Bush gazes lovingly toward Trump as Abraham Lincoln, who the viewer sees from behind, appears to be conversing with Trump. It has no curator-William Allman, who long held the post, retired past year and has yet to be replaced.

Duchess Meghan says she is 'running on adrenaline' during royal tourOct 18, 2018 - 04:41
The Duke of Sussex got a particularly warm welcome from one schoolboy as the royal tour made its way to the outback city of Dubbo. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to welcome a royal baby in Spring 2019, but experts say Meghan could be carrying twins.

Dodgers' Machado fined by MLB for kicking Brewers 1B AguilarOct 18, 2018 - 04:13
Machado came into this postseason with a reputation, as all longstanding baseball players develop at some point in their careers. But the Dodgers again struggled at the plate after going 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position during a 4-0 loss in Game 3.

Google Frees Up Android Device Makers to Comply with EU RulingsOct 18, 2018 - 03:30
Outside of including a browser, everything else can just be downloaded from Google by the user after they purchase their device. The biggie here is the Google Play Store, something we expect many device makers will want to keep on their devices.

Mega Millions jackpot soars to $900 million, second-highestOct 18, 2018 - 03:16
More than 55,000 winning tickets are outstanding, with unclaimed prizes ranging from $2 to $50,000, according to the statement. The chance of matching all six numbers for the Mega Millions and taking home the grand prize is one in 302.5 million.